StemCell Therapy

PARIS A second patient has been cured of HIV after undergoing stem cell transplant treatment, doctors said Tuesday, after finding no trace of infection 30 months after he stopped traditional treatment.

The London Patient, a cancer sufferer originally from Venezuela, made headlines last year when researchers at the University of Cambridge reported they had found no trace of the AIDS-causing virus in his blood for 18 months.

Ravindra Gupta, lead author of the study published in The Lancet HIV, said the new test results were even more remarkable and likely demonstrated the patient was cured.

Weve tested a sizeable set of sites that HIV likes to hide in and they are all pretty much negative for an active virus, Gupta told AFP.

The patient, who revealed his identity this week as Adam Castillejo, 40, was diagnosed with HIV in 2003 and had been on medication to keep the disease in check since 2012.

Later that year, he was diagnosed with advanced Hodgkins lymphoma, a deadly cancer.

In 2016 he underwent a bone marrow transplant to treat blood cancer, receiving stem cells from donors with a genetic mutation present in less than 1 percent of Europeans that prevents HIV from taking hold.

He becomes only the second person to be cured of HIV after American Timothy Brown, known as the Berlin Patient, recovered from HIV in 2011 following similar treatment.

Viral tests of Castillejos cerebral fluid, intestinal tissue and lymphoid tissue more than two years after stopping retroviral treatment showed no active infection.

Gupta said the tests uncovered HIV fossils fragments of the virus that were now incapable of reproducing, and were therefore safe.

Wed expect that, he said.

Its quite hard to imagine that all trace of a virus that infects billions of cells was eliminated from the body.

Researchers cautioned that the breakthrough did not constitute a generalized cure for HIV, which leads to nearly 1 million deaths every year.

Castillejos treatment was a last resort as his blood cancer would likely have killed him without intervention, according to Gupta.

The Cambridge doctor said that there were several other patients who had undergone similar treatment but who were less far along in their remission.

There will probably be more but they will take time, he said.

Researchers are currently weighing up whether or not patients suffering from drug-resistant forms of HIV might be eligible for stem cell transplants in future, something Gupta said would require careful ethical consideration.

Youd have to weigh up the fact that theres a 10 percent mortality rate from doing a stem-cell transplant against what the risk of death would be if we did nothing, he said.

Commenting on The Lancet study, Sharon Lewin, an infectious disease expert at the University of Melbourne, said the findings could provide comfort to patients.

But she advised caution.

Given the large number of cells sampled here and the absence of any intact virus, is the London patient cured? she said.

Unfortunately in the end, only time will tell.

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Second patient cured of HIV using stem cell transplant treatment - The Japan Times

MENLO PARK, Calif. and NEW YORK, March 11, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Forty Seven Inc. (Nasdaq: FTSV) and Rocket Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Nasdaq: RCKT) announced today that they have entered into a research collaboration to pursue clinical proof-of-concept for Forty Sevens novel antibody-based conditioning regimen, FSI-174 (anti-cKIT antibody) plus magrolimab (anti-CD47 antibody), with Rockets ex vivo lentiviral vector hematopoietic stem cell (LVV HSC) gene therapy, RP-L102. The initial collaboration will evaluate this treatment regimen in Fanconi Anemia (FA), a genetic disease that affects patients capacity to produce blood cells and is associated with an increased risk of leukemia and other neoplasms. RP-L102, Rockets gene therapy approach for FA, involves treatment with patients own gene-corrected blood forming stem cells (hematopoietic stem cells, or HSCs).

Gene therapies for monogenic blood disorders have broad potential. One concern associated with these treatments is the toxicity of pre-therapy conditioning regimens that utilize cytotoxic chemotherapy and/or radiation to destroy existing HSCs and facilitate engraftment of gene-corrected HSCs. Forty Sevens all-antibody based conditioning regimen is designed to address the limitations of current pre-treatment conditioning therapies. These regimens are often associated with serious side effects, including severe infection, cognitive impairment, infertility, endocrine dysfunction, secondary malignancies and organ damage. These toxicities are especially difficult for pediatric patients and are particularly severe for patients with FA, who are more sensitive to the DNA-damaging effects of traditional conditioning agents. Preliminary data demonstrate that RP-L102 may confer efficacy without pre-treatment conditioning. The combination of RP-L102 with Forty Sevens all-antibody conditioning regimen may provide patients an alternate treatment option in situations where conditioning may be advantageous.

We are pleased to enter into this collaboration with Forty Seven, said Jonathan Schwartz, M.D., Chief Medical Officer and Senior Vice President of Rocket. RP-L102 Process B is currently being evaluated in a registrational trial without the use of conditioning. In parallel, we are assessing incorporation of a non-genotoxic conditioning regimen as a part of Rockets life-cycle management strategy. Forty Sevens novelall-antibodyconditioning regimen could also beapplied to Rockets other lentiviral programs, in which conditioning is more integral to the gene therapy approach.

We are initiating our first in human healthy volunteer study of FSI-174 in the first quarter this year, and are excited to enter into a partnership with Rocket at this time. Rocket is at the forefront of developing gene therapies for high unmet-need diseases, and this collaboration will provide an opportunity to evaluate the benefit of Forty Sevens novel conditioning regimen with Rockets RP-L102 to help FA patients, says Jens-Peter Volkmer, VP of Research at Forty Seven.

This collaboration is in line with our strategy to study our anti-cKIT and anti-CD47, all-antibody conditioning regimen in combination with several different gene therapies, and to establish clinical proof-of-concept in a broad range of transplant indications, said Mukul Agarwal, VP of Corporate Development at Forty Seven.

Maria Grazia Roncarolo, M.D., Scientific Advisor to Forty Seven, commented, The goal of my lifes work is to bring pediatric patients transformative therapies for currently incurable diseases. We believe Rocket Pharmaceuticals commitment to devastating diseases, such as FA, addresses a critical unmet need and Forty Sevens antibody conditioning creates an alternative avenue to deliver this therapy to those patients. We look forward to seeing how this collaboration may help patients in need.

Under the terms of the agreement, Rocket will provide its ex vivo LVV HSC gene therapy platform and Forty Seven will contribute its innovative antibody-based conditioning regimen for the collaboration.

About FSI-174 and MagrolimabFSI-174 is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting cKIT, which is a receptor that is highly expressed on hematopoietic stem cells. Magrolimab is a humanized monoclonal antibody targeting CD47, which is a dont eat me signal to macrophages and is expressed on all cells. Magrolimab is currently being investigated in Phase 2 clinical trials to treat cancer and has established clinical efficacy in four indications, including myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia, diffuse large B cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma, with a favorable safety profile in over 400 patients treated, including some patients treated continuously for over two years. When combined, FSI-174 sends a positive signal to macrophages to target blood forming stem cells for removal and magrolimab disengages inhibitory signals that block phagocytosis. Combination of these antibodies has shown efficient removal of blood forming stem cells, allowing for transplantation in pre-clinical models.

About Fanconi Anemia Fanconi Anemia (FA) is a rare pediatric disease characterized by bone marrow failure, malformations and cancer predisposition. The primary cause of death among patients with FA is bone marrow failure, which typically occurs during the first decade of life. Allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT), when available, corrects the hematologic component of FA, but requires myeloablative conditioning. Graft-versus-host disease, a known complication of allogeneic HSCT, is associated with an increased risk of solid tumors, mainly squamous cell carcinomas of the head and neck region. Approximately 60-70% of patients with FA have aFANC-Agene mutation, which encodes for a protein essential for DNA repair. Mutation in theFANC-Agene leads to chromosomal breakage and increased sensitivity to oxidative and environmental stress. Chromosome fragility induced by DNA-alkylating agents such as mitomycin-C (MMC) or diepoxybutane (DEB) is the gold standard test for FA diagnosis. Somatic mosaicism occurs when there is a spontaneous correction of the mutated gene that can lead to stabilization or correction of a FA patients blood counts in the absence of any administered therapy. Somatic mosaicism, often referred to as natural gene therapy provides a strong rationale for the development of FA gene therapy because of the selective growth advantage of gene-corrected hematopoietic stem cells over FA cells1.

1Soulier, J.,et al. (2005) Detection of somatic mosaicism and classification of Fanconi anemia patients by analysis of the FA/BRCA pathway. Blood 105: 1329-1336

About Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Rocket Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: RCKT) (Rocket) is advancing an integrated and sustainable pipeline of genetic therapies that correct the root cause of complex and rare childhood disorders. The companys platform-agnostic approach enables it to design the best therapy for each indication, creating potentially transformative options for patients contending with rare genetic diseases. Rocket's clinical programs using lentiviral vector (LVV)-based gene therapy are for the treatment of Fanconi Anemia (FA), a difficult to treat genetic disease that leads to bone marrow failure and potentially cancer, Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), a severe pediatric genetic disorder that causes recurrent and life-threatening infections which are frequently fatal, and Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD) a rare, monogenic red blood cell disorder resulting in increased red cell destruction and mild to life-threatening anemia. Rockets first clinical program using adeno-associated virus (AAV)-based gene therapy is for Danon disease, a devastating, pediatric heart failure condition. Rockets pre-clinical pipeline program is for Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO), a bone marrow-derived disorder. For more information about Rocket, please visitwww.rocketpharma.com.

For more information, please visit http://www.rocketpharma.com or contact info@rocketpharma.com

About Forty Seven, Inc.Forty Seven, Inc.is a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company that is developing therapies targeting cancer immune evasion pathways based on technology licensed fromStanford University. Forty Sevens lead program, magrolimab, is a monoclonal antibody against the CD47 receptor, a dont eat me signal that cancer cells commandeer to avoid being ingested by macrophages. This antibody is currently being evaluated in multiple clinical studies in patients with myelodysplastic syndrome, acute myeloid leukemia, and non-Hodgkins lymphoma.

For more information, please visitwww.fortyseveninc.comor contactinfo@fortyseveninc.com.

Follow Forty Seven on social media:@FortySevenInc,LinkedIn

Rocket Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsVarious statements in this release concerning Rocket's future expectations, plans and prospects, including without limitation, Rocket's expectations regarding the safety, effectiveness and timing of product candidates that Rocket may develop, to treat Fanconi Anemia (FA), Leukocyte Adhesion Deficiency-I (LAD-I), Pyruvate Kinase Deficiency (PKD), Infantile Malignant Osteopetrosis (IMO) and Danon Disease, and the safety, effectiveness and timing of related pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, may constitute forward-looking statements for the purposes of the safe harbor provisions under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and other federal securities laws and are subject to substantial risks, uncertainties and assumptions. You should not place reliance on these forward-looking statements, which often include words such as "believe," "expect," "anticipate," "intend," "plan," "will give," "estimate," "seek," "will," "may," "suggest" or similar terms, variations of such terms or the negative of those terms. Although Rocket believes that the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements are reasonable, Rocket cannot guarantee such outcomes. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including, without limitation, Rocket's ability to successfully demonstrate the efficacy and safety of such products and pre-clinical studies and clinical trials, its gene therapy programs, the preclinical and clinical results for its product candidates, which may not support further development and marketing approval, the potential advantages of Rocket's product candidates, actions of regulatory agencies, which may affect the initiation, timing and progress of pre-clinical studies and clinical trials of its product candidates, Rocket's and its licensors ability to obtain, maintain and protect its and their respective intellectual property, the timing, cost or other aspects of a potential commercial launch of Rocket's product candidates, Rocket's ability to manage operating expenses, Rocket's ability to obtain additional funding to support its business activities and establish and maintain strategic business alliances and new business initiatives, Rocket's dependence on third parties for development, manufacture, marketing, sales and distribution of product candidates, the outcome of litigation, and unexpected expenditures, as well as those risks more fully discussed in the section entitled "Risk Factors" in Rocket's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, filed March 6, 2020 with the SEC. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements. All such statements speak only as of the date made, and Rocket undertakes no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

Forty Seven Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking StatementsStatements contained in this press release regarding matters that are not historical facts are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Words such as will, may, assess, could, believe, and similar expressions (as well as other words or expressions referencing future events, conditions, or circumstances) are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These statements include those related to the research and development plans for Rockets and Forty Sevens respective platforms and product candidates, the timing and success of Forty Sevens collaboration with Rocket, Forty Sevens plans to pursue clinical proof-of-concept for FSI-174 plus magrolimab with the LVV HSC gene therapy platform, the focus on diseases that have the potential to be corrected with the combination of RP-L102 and Forty Sevens all-antibody conditioning regimen, the tolerability and efficacy of RP-L102, FSI-174 and magrolimab, the timing and success of any future collaborations between Forty Seven and Rocket, Forty Sevens plans to continue development of FSI-174 plus magrolimab, as well as related timing for clinical trials of the same.

Because such statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. The product candidates that Forty Seven develops may not progress through clinical development or receive required regulatory approvals within expected timelines or at all.In addition, clinical trials may not confirm any safety, potency or other product characteristics described or assumed in this press release. Such product candidates may not be beneficial to patients or successfully commercialized. The failure to meet expectations with respect to any of the foregoing matters may have a negative effect on Forty Seven's stock price. Additional information concerning these and other risk factors affecting Forty Seven's business can be found in Forty Seven's periodic filings with theSecurities and Exchange Commissionatwww.sec.gov. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and speak only as of the date hereof, and, except as required by law, Forty Seven disclaims any obligation to update these forward-looking statements to reflect future events or circumstances.

Forty SevenInvestors:Hannah Deresiewicz, (212) 362-1200hannah.deresiewicz@sternir.com

or

Media:Sarah Plumridge, (312) 506-5218fortyseven@hdmz.com

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Forty Seven and Rocket Pharmaceuticals Announce Research Collaboration for Fanconi Anemia - BioSpace

The first single-cell analysis of the human ovarian cortex revealed six main types of cells, but none of the oogonial stem cells that other researchers say they have isolated, according to a study published earlier this week (March 2) in Nature Communications. These findings are backed by the most advanced technologies, the authors say, and could put to rest a heated debate about the properties of the adult ovary that has raged for more than a decade.

The results of the experiment dont leave a lot of space for different interpretations, says Susana Chuva de Sousa Lopes, a developmental biologist at Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands who served on the PhD dissertation committee of coauthor Sarita Panula but was not involved in the research. It seems, she says, that cells previously identified as ovarian stem cells are in fact perivascular cells, which support blood vessel structure and help regulate blood flow.

But the discoverers of ovarian stem cells in adult mammals and other proponents of the cells existence are not convinced, citing methodological weaknesses of the new study.

Until relatively recently, scientific consensus was that a female mammals oocyte pool is fixed at birth. Adult ovaries, it was assumed, are simply unable to generate new eggs. But in 2004, Northeastern University reproductive biologist Jonathan Tilly and colleagues published findings that appeared to upend this understanding of oocyctes by presenting evidence of ovarian stem cells in adult mice.

A few years later, scientists in China claimed to have also found such germ line stem cells in the ovaries of adult mice, and showed that these cells could differentiate into functional eggs that gave rise to viable mouse pups. And in 2012, Tillys group reported the existence of germ cells in samples of human ovarian tissue, claiming that these cells could similarly generate oocytes in vitro and in vivo when injected into mice.

These findings generated a lot of publicity because they suggested that human fertility wasnt fixed after all. But the data has always been criticized, says Fredrik Lanner, an embryonic stem cell researcher at the Karolinska Institute and a coauthor on the newly published study that failed to find such stem cells.

We quite feel certain to say that in the human adult ovary in this cortex region, there is no cell that would be the oogonial stem cell.

Pauliina Damdimopoulou, Karolinska Institute

While some groups have been able to reproduce the results, others have tried and failed. Debates have erupted over methods, techniques, and protocols, and Tilly and his colleagues have published lengthy replies to those who have challenged their work. Today, the field is more or less divided into two camps regarding the existence of ovarian stem cells, says Chuva de Sousa Lopes.

To try to get to the bottom of the issue, Lanner and his collaborators harvested high-quality ovarian tissue samples from 21 healthy patients of reproductive age and isolated the ovarian cortex, the outer layer of the ovary where researchers claim to have found the elusive stem cells. The team used enzymes to break down the ovarian tissues, yielding 24,000 individual cells in total, then performed single-cell transcriptome and cell surface marker profiling, revealing six main cell types: oocytes, granulosa cells, immune cells, endothelial cells, perivascular cells, and stromal cells. None of the single-cell profiles matched those of reported ovarian stem cells.

When Lanner and colleagues stained the cells with an antibody against DDX4, a germ cell marker that is reported to select for oogonial stem cells, they found that they had instead isolated perivascular cells. The team then stained intact ovarian tissue and saw that the antibody similarly identifies perivascular cells. A comparison of the 24,000 cells to existing transcriptome data from both human fetal ovaries and the ovarian medulla, the inner region of the ovary, also failed to reveal any oogonial stem cells.

We quite feel certain to say that in the human adult ovary in this cortex region, there is no cell that would be the oogonial stem cell, says coauthor Pauliina Damdimopoulou, a cell biologist at the Karolinska Institute. She believes that other researchers have succeeded in using the DDX4 isolation technique to select and culture cells, but that what they have found are in fact perivascular cells and not oogonial stem cells.

This study again highlights that the DDX4 isolation technique is not something that can be used to isolate oogonial stem cells, University of Adelaide cell biologist Keith Jones, who was not involved in the work but coauthored a 2016 papersuggesting that the same antibody does not isolate DDX4 positive cells, writes in an email to The Scientist. It brings into question the existence of such stem cells, and leads us back to the dogma that prevailed previously in the fieldthe adult ovary does not contain oogonial stem cells.

Damdimopoulou also notes that she and her colleagues found that small, mature oocytes can slip through the filtration process, and when cultured, may appear as if they had been generated from stem cells. We think [the oocytes] were there all along from the beginning, she says. The formation of new vasculature by perivascular cells surrounding these oocytes, Chuva de Sousa Lopes suspects, could trigger dormant egg cells to become active and then mature, which might explain the results published by other labs.

Perivascular cells dont undergo meiosis, perivascular cells dont express meiotic genes, perivascular cells dont express germ cell genes.

Jonathan Tilly, Northeastern University

Others are not ready to give up on the idea of ovarian stem cells just yet. Deepa Bhartiya, a stem cell biologist at the National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health in India who was not involved with the research, has been working with ovarian stem cells since 2010 and says that they can be easily detected. Research with sheep ovarian tissues has shown that simple scraping of [the] ovary surface can show the presence of stem cells amongst the ovary surface epithelial cells, she writes in an email to The Scientist. The problem with the new study out of Sweden, Bhartiya says, is the speed at which the researchers spun their cellsmuch too slow to isolate the stem cells, which due to their small size do not pellet down at lower speeds and are therefore unknowingly discarded. Bhartiya writes that the study used novel techniques, but revealed nothing new: if sample preparation is not properone will get negative data.

Tilly argues that there are numerous methodological problems with the study. He says that at this point four independent groups have reported on the existence of oogonial stem cells, showing that the cells can generate new oocytes in both somatic ovarian tissue and outside the body in culture, and that they can undergo complete meiosis, a germ cell-specific event. Perivascular cells dont undergo meiosis, perivascular cells dont express meiotic genes, perivascular cells dont express germ cell genes, he says.

What the field really needs, says Chuva de Sousa Lopes, is more communication among researchers. The scientists that claim there are stem cells in the ovary and the scientists that are against that are somehow not really talking to each other, she says. I wish there would be more open dialogue, because sooner or later all these populations [of cells] will be clarified . . . and things will be more clear.

M. Wagner et al., Single-cell analysis of human ovarian cortex identifies distinct cell populations but no oogonial stem cells,Nat Commun,doi:10.1038/s41467-020-14936-3, 2020.

Amy Schleunes is an intern atThe Scientist. Email her ataschleunes@the-scientist.com.

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Single-Cell Analysis of Ovarian Cortex Fails to Find Stem Cells - The Scientist

By Tom McLaughlin

Lauren Daniel recalls that, as a clinical psychologist working with pediatric cancer patients at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), she would often arrive in the mornings to do therapy sessions and find that her patients were still sleeping.

It was then difficult for her to sit down with them, she remembers, but the predicament was understandable, since they were frequently woken up throughout the night for a variety of reasons, including vital checks, to urinate, and to get pumps and other medical equipment serviced.

For someone to wake them up during the day, it was torture for them, says the assistant professor of psychology at Rutgers UniversityCamden. They dont want to talk to you at that point.

Daniels understanding and concern would spark a career research interest in the sleep patterns of children with cancer and the connection to patients psychosocial health outcomes.

The RutgersCamden researcher is now leading an international team of sleep researchers to establish research priorities for better understanding the role of sleep in pediatric cancer. The team calls on other researchers to join them in their collaborative efforts in their paper, A call to action for expanded sleep research in pediatric oncology: A position paper on behalf of the International Psycho-Oncology Society Pediatrics Special Interest Group, in the journal Psycho-Oncology.

We are excited to put the call out there, says Daniel, who notes that three of the participating researchers spoke at the 2019 International Psycho-Oncology Society World Congress.

Daniel explains that the pediatric cancer population is thankfully small at any one center, so it is incredibly valuable for researchers to collaborate in pooling data across multiple centers.

The RutgersCamden researcher notes that research on adult cancer patients shows a bidirectional relationship linking negative health outcomes with disrupted sleep and circadian rhythms, as well as compelling evidence showing that improved sleep improves health outcomes in adults. However, she says, little is known about these effects on pediatric cancer patients.

It is essential to increase our understanding because sleep and circadian rhythms are vital components of health and quality of life, write the researchers in their paper. In children without cancer, sleep and circadian disturbances respond well to intervention, suggesting that they may also be modifiable in children with cancer.

In addition to Daniels work with the research group, she recently received a $50,000 grant from the New Jersey Commission on Cancer Research to lead the pilot program Disrupted Sleep and its Association with Symptom Burden and Reduced Engagement in Supportive Care in Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant Patients.

Daniel will work with medical professionals and psychologists on the study at CHOP to collect data on an intervention to improve sleep in pediatric cancer patients undergoing stem cell transplants.

Lauren Daniel

I am grateful for the opportunity to branch out into a new area of research and continue the work that we are doing for patients at CHOP, says Daniel.

The researchers are currently studying how sleep affects the day-to-day symptoms and coping abilities of patients in the peritransplant period, the early stage when cells are starting to graft and grow. The researchers ultimately hope to determine what they can alter to improve sleep patterns of patients and encourage changes in nursing practices accordingly in order to improve psychosocial outcomes.

Even if we can make modest gains, we hope to improve the psychosocial health outcomes in addition to medical outcomes for patients, says Daniel, who adds that there isnt a lot of psychosocial research on these patients, in part because these children are already going through intensive research.

Daniel notes an earlier study found that patients need to be woken up an average of 12 times per night.

In their forthcoming study, says the RutgersCamden researcher, pediatric patients will wear a wristwatch to measure their motion for a two-week period after receiving transplant cells and be asked to complete daily surveys on what their sleep experience was like the night before. Their symptoms, such as nausea, fatigue, anxiety, and depression, will then be assessed every five days. Researchers will also extend the intervals between vital checks and determine the effects on their symptoms.

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Researcher Calls on Others Worldwide to Join Efforts to Understand Role of Sleep in Pediatric Cancer - Rutgers-Camden NewsNow

As coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) continues to infect more people worldwide, it has also increased the cases of stress and anxiety caused by a coronavirus. People are so scared of going to public places and if someone sneezes near to them, it gives them a little panic attack.

Considering the fast and uncontrollable spread of coronavirus, it is justified that people are under stress. Psychologist finds the occurrence of stress and anxiety in response to any threat as a normal human reaction. But this added stress is extremely harmful to people who are already at risk of certain diseases i.e. heart patients, blood pressure patients, stress and anxiety patients, pregnant women, and immunocompromised patients.

Here are a few suggestions for people, written as per psychological science to deal with the coronavirus related stress and anxiety.

It is a proven scientific fact that the US is going through a rapid increase in intolerance., which makes it difficult for people to cope up with stress. A study based on the H1N1 pandemic of 2009 shows that it was extremely hard for the people to accept the uncertainty of this pandemic situation and as a result that they experience anxiety.

The solution to this problem is by changing the behavior towards small things in routine. Building the patience level is something that not only helps to overcome the anxiety of coronavirus but helps a person to tackle all uncertain situations in life.

Also read- Can Scientists Cure HIV With Stem Cell Therapy?

Although it might not be the first thing that a stressed person would like to hear it is necessary to keep up the struggle in all forms. Distract yourself and involve in various activities that would keep you busy. Watch Netflix, read a book, write something, experiment with cooking, play with your pets, or anything that you like. Engaging yourself in an activity that you like is much likely to reduce the tress and pressure created by anything including the coronavirus outbreak.

One way to overcome the coronavirus related stress is by connecting to the goodness in life and finding meaning in it. Be it relationships, spirituality or anything, focus on what makes you happy and how you have given years to something. It would help you to feel important and life would suddenly look worth it.

It is understandable if someone is fearing what to do if coronavirus shows up in his town. Ending up at quarantine for days doesnt seem like a very good idea but human minds typically estimate the worst situation out of everything. There is plenty of research that explains peoples behavior as they overestimate their conditionsin event of any negative thing. Also, they underestimate their own responsesthat how would they adjust to any difficult situation. But mind it that you are way more resilient than you consider yourself, do not let the anxiety of it shaken you.

Also read- What does Your Period Blood Color Show?

In addition to the common psychological conditioning, you must remember that its a virus-borne disease that could be avoided if you follow a good self-care practice. Follow personal hygiene practices as prescribed by the CDC. Eat healthily, sleep regularly and spend time in exercise. Avoid meeting people unnecessarily and stay away from a person who exhibits any signs of flu or cold.

Prioritizing your behavior with others during this coronavirus outbreak. The coronavirus related stress could be tackled with a combination of psychological and practical approaches together.

It is normal to feel stressed because of the coronavirus outbreak. Disease in all forms is fearful and it is risky for people who are weak or already suffering from a disease. If you think that self-help plans are not working on you, it is better to get professional help. Contact your nearest mental health professional. He might prescribe you with Cognitive behavioral therapyand/orcertain medicines after evaluating your case. All in all, it would lead to successful anxiety treatment.

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6Ways to Tackle Coronavirus Related Stress and Anxiety - TheHealthMania

The government has stepped up its efforts to contain the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) by tightening health screenings at borders and testing more people after confirming two cases in a Jakarta suburb over the weekend.

Scientists, however, say there is still a crucial element lacking in the war against the virus: transparency.

A number of scientists have highlighted the importance of involving more people, including independent scientists, in the handling of the virus outbreak, saying it is essential that health authorities work effectively and scientifically.

Ahmad Utomo, a principal investigator at the Stemcell and Cancer Institute in Jakarta, has said that how the authorities are conducting testing is not transparent and not helping the public understand the situation.

The government, he said, needed to write in detail about the sample collection, preservation, transport and quality control.

And if they are going to write a [scientific] paper [on the issue], they must disclose what brand they are using for the PCR testing, he toldThe Jakarta Poston Wednesday, adding that China's Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had done exactly that.

Paper publications like the ones in China showed the details of the outbreak, complete with molecular genetic data of the virus.

The Health Ministry has posted updates about the COVID-19 situation atinfeksiemerging.kemkes.go.id. In its latest update, posted on March 4, the ministry mostly explains the global situation of the outbreak and only spares one paragraph (or one pointer) to explain the domestic situation.

The links to the previous updates are all broken.

Indonesia has reported two confirmed cases in the country, even though the government itself has admitted that it was unable to detect infected people since they showed no symptoms and that the incubation period had been extended to more than 14 days.

Critics have said Indonesia should have reported more cases but the government, which claims to have conducted the lab tests according to the WHO standards, has insisted that the number of confirmed cases has not changed.

Achmad Yurianto, a government spokesman for the handling of the virus outbreak, said Indonesia had tested 168 samples as of Wednesday. Two of them, case one and case two, came back positive with COVID-19. We are still studying the 10 other samples. The rest are negative, he said.

When asked about the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) test equipment, Yurianto said: I will not tell you the name of the brand.

Utomo deplored Yuriantos response, saying that information regarding the test kit was critical to allow independent parties review its reliability. Some test kits, he said, could be faulty, referring to the ones used by the US Centers for Disease Control.

After insisting that its Jakarta laboratory alone could conduct testing, the ministry decided to let local laboratories in 10 major cities conduct throat swab tests for COVID-19. However, it has yet to allow other scientific organizations, including from universities, conduct testing.

The government argued that such a policy was redundant, saying that scientists had been consulted with in the formulation of the governments policy, including the testing system. It doesnt matter where the testing is conducted, he said, adding that what mattered was the scientists contribution to the crisis management system.

Read also: Calls mount for revival of national outbreak committee over coronavirus fears

The building of Eijkman Institute in Jakarta (Eijkman Institute/File)

Herawati, the deputy for fundamental research at Eijkman Institute, said the institution had all the equipment needed to conduct testing but the government had yet to seek its assistance with the testing of the suspected coronavirus patients.

When the avian influenza outbreak occurred, the government immediately asked Eijkman to also help with the testing of samples from suspected patients, she claimed.

Indonesia, she said, should follow Singapore, where the government and universities are working together to conduct testing for COVID-19.

Indonesia, she said, might be underreporting confirmed cases.

[The two positive cases] I think are just the tip of the iceberg. We have to do more tests. Not because we want to get more patients but we have to make sure that we are ready, our abilities, facilities and everything for pandemic preparation, Hera said.

When asked about whether having local labs do the testing was enough, Hera said: The key is to have an independent laboratory under the command of the Health Ministry for comparison. This is to strengthen transparency, Hera added.

Ahmad concurred with Hera, saying that the government needed to get professional help. At least seek help to conduct supervision. We have many world-class virologists.

Bayu Krisnamurthi, who headed the National Committee for Avian Flu Control and Pandemic Preparedness (Komnas Flu Burung) between 2006 and 2010, also highlighted the importance of an independent laboratory for testing.

"It is important to confirm. This examination laboratory has two critical functions, to identify whether the patient is indeed infected with the virus and whether the virus is still the same, or has it mutated and even to trace the origin of the virus," he said.

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Indonesian scientists want government to get professional help in fighting COVID-19 - The Jakarta Post - Jakarta Post

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPPI) Equities research analysts at Jefferies Financial Group issued their FY2024 earnings estimates for shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday, March 4th. Jefferies Financial Group analyst M. Raycroft anticipates that the biotechnology company will post earnings per share of $1.59 for the year.

Several other equities analysts also recently commented on SPPI. HC Wainwright assumed coverage on shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. They issued a buy rating and a $11.00 price objective for the company. B. Riley dropped their price objective on shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals from $11.00 to $8.00 and set a buy rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 2nd. Zacks Investment Research downgraded shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals from a buy rating to a hold rating and set a $3.75 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a neutral rating and issued a $4.00 price objective (down previously from $17.00) on shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in a research note on Thursday, December 26th. Finally, BidaskClub downgraded shares of Spectrum Pharmaceuticals from a hold rating to a sell rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. The stock has a consensus rating of Hold and an average target price of $11.13.

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:SPPI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 27th. The biotechnology company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, missing the Thomson Reuters consensus estimate of ($0.33) by ($0.02). The companys revenue was up NaN% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.30) EPS.

In other Spectrum Pharmaceuticals news, COO Thomas J. Riga sold 11,381 shares of the companys stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $3.37, for a total value of $38,353.97. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 246,678 shares in the company, valued at approximately $831,304.86. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,764 shares of company stock valued at $123,463. Corporate insiders own 4.17% of the companys stock.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SPPI. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Spectrum Pharmaceuticals by 1,280.0% in the 4th quarter. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC now owns 6,900 shares of the biotechnology companys stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 6,400 shares during the period. Clear Harbor Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC increased its position in Spectrum Pharmaceuticals by 251.3% in the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 10,346 shares of the biotechnology companys stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 7,401 shares during the period. Los Angeles Capital Management & Equity Research Inc. acquired a new position in Spectrum Pharmaceuticals in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $55,000. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can increased its position in Spectrum Pharmaceuticals by 27.7% in the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 18,412 shares of the biotechnology companys stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 3,989 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 68.53% of the companys stock.

About Spectrum Pharmaceuticals

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc develops and commercializes oncology and hematology drug products. The company offers KHAPZORY, a novel folate analog and the pharmacologically active levo-isomer of d, and 1-leucovorin; FOLOTYN, a folate analogue metabolic inhibitor for peripheral T-cell lymphoma (PTCL); ZEVALIN injection to treat non-Hodgkin's lymphoma; MARQIBO for adult patients with Philadelphia chromosome-negative acute lymphoblastic leukemia; BELEODAQ, a histone deacytelase, or HDAC, inhibitor for the treatment of patients with relapsed or refractory PTCL; and EVOMELA for use as a conditioning treatment prior to autologous stem cell transplant in multiple myeloma patients.

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Spectrum Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ:SPPI) Forecasted to Earn FY2024 Earnings of $1.59 Per Share - Redmond Register

A few months ago Victoria Beckham uploaded a picture of kissing herself kissing her daughter Brooklyn on her lips. This was to wish Brooklyns birthday. Although it was meant to be a happy post, but it agitated a new discussion in comments discussing if its okay to kiss your child on lips or not.

Doctors say that it is necessary for children to feel loved and protected in a house. But lip kissing a child might not be the best way to express the parents love towards children they say. Is it really that problematic? Here is what childrens psychologists say on this.

As lips and mouth are considered as personal boundaries of any person, it is necessary to understand that it also applies to children. Kissing on lips even my parents can probably change the understanding of what is personal for a child.

A child psychologist named Charlotte Reznickexplains that when parents kiss their child on lips, it gives a sign that it is okay to do that and anyone can intrude their personal space and do the same without any problem.

But this behavior is not just limited to kissing but also applies to tightly wrap around the body, forced kisses, force food, aggressive tickles, etc. So this type of invasive parents might increase their kid to develop a condition called victim syndrome which practically makes the child unable to say NO and maintain a personal boundary while interacting with others.

Also read- Breakthrough Research Identifies A Potential Treatment For Ulcerative Colitis

Researchers, doctors, and dentists all warn parents to avoid unnecessary physical contact with the child. There are tons of bacteria, viruses, and fungi that are harmless for adults but might cause an infection in children when they re kissed or hugged unnecessary.

Young children have a weak immune system as compared to adults, which is why they are at a high risk of such microbial transmissions, Charlotte Reznickfurther clarifies that a number of extremely dangerous pathogens could be transmitted via saliva which is bad for their health.

When kissing on lips to a child is made common, he may start embracing it as an act of sympathy and may start kissing other people the same way. It is normal for a child to behave the same way as he sees his parents doing whether at home or outside. So this behavior might initiate a child to kiss other children or adults on the lips, the same way as his parents do to him, considering it normal.

Also read- Can Scientists Cure HIV With Stem Cell Therapy?

The psychologistadvisesparents to understand that even if this kissing on lips look like an innocent lovey gesture, the child may learn and mimic it with people without realizing the intimate complications of it. That is why psychologists suggest to kiss your child only on cheeks or forehead and never on lips.

Share your views if you think kissing your child on kiss is acceptable and normal. If you agree, also share until which age this could be done and is the parent-kid kiss onthe lipsacceptable regardless of the gender differences or not.

Read the rest here:
Is it Okay to Kiss your Kids on the Lips? Psychologists Say NO - TheHealthMania

Why would vitamin D lower risk for respiratory illness? Our bodies need adequate vitamin D to produce the antimicrobial proteins that kill viruses and bacteria. If you dont have adequate vitamin D circulating, you are less effective at producing these proteins and more susceptible to infection, says Dr. Adit Ginde, professor of emergency medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine and the studys lead author. These proteins are particularly active in the respiratory tract.

Its important to note that there are no clinical recommendations to take vitamin D for immune health, although the standard recommendation for bone health is for 600 to 800 international units per day. (That is the level found in most multivitamins.) In the study of respiratory illness and vitamin D, the dose was equivalent to about 3,330 international units daily.

Vitamin D can be found in fatty fish, such as salmon, and in milk or foods fortified with vitamin D. In general, our vitamin D levels tend to be influenced by sun exposure, skin tone and latitude people in northern areas who get less sun exposure in the winter typically have lower vitamin D. A blood test is required to check vitamin D levels. Less than 20 nanograms per milliliter is considered deficient. Above 30 is optimal.

The bottom line: If you are concerned about immune health, you may consider having your vitamin D level checked and talking to your doctor about whether to take a supplement.

Avoid excessive alcohol consumption. Numerous studies have found a link between excessive alcohol consumption and immune function. Research shows people who drink in excess are more susceptible to respiratory illness and pneumonia and recover from infection and wounds more slowly. Alcohol alters the number of microbes in the gut microbiome, a community of microorganisms that affect the immune system. Excessive alcohol can damage the lungs, and impair the mucosal immune system, which is essential in helping the body recognize pathogens and fight infection. And its not just chronic drinking that does damage. Binge drinking can also impair the immune system.

The bottom line: A cocktail or glass of wine while you are sheltering in place during coronavirus is fine. But avoid drinking to excess. The current U.S. Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend that alcohol should be consumed only in moderation up to one drink per day for women and two drinks per day for men.

Eat a balanced diet and skip unproven supplements. A healthful diet and exercise are important to maintaining a strong immune system. However, no single food or natural remedy has been proven to bolster a persons immune system or ward off disease. But that hasnt stopped people from making specious claims. A recipe circulating on social media claims boiled garlic water helps. Other common foods touted for their immune-boosting properties are ginger, citrus fruits, turmeric, oregano oil and bone broth. There are small studies that suggest a benefit to some of these foods, but strong evidence is lacking. For instance, the bone broth claim has been fueled by a study published in 2000 that showed eating chicken soup seemed to reduce symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection. A number of small studies have suggested garlic may enhance immune system function. Claims that elderberry products can prevent viral illness also are making the rounds on social media, but evidence is lacking.

Read the original:
Can I Boost My Immune System? - The New York Times

The thought of impending sickness has a lot of people on edge. It brings on anxiety, and when youre anxious, you want to do something to relieve it. Thats why you see stories of people stockpiling toilet paper, and disinfecting wipes, and stealing face masks. (None of those things are going to help them stay healthy by the way)

Like you, I cant avoid seeing and hearing all the stories about how to wash hands, avoid sick people, and use hand sanitizer to protect yourself and your family from coming down with COVID-19.

As a health and wellness expert I agree thats good advice, but I also know theyre missing a bigger part of the story.

Why is no one talking about what you can do to build up your immune system from the inside?

Healing is an inside job. Thats an uninspiring message, so it doesnt make the headlines.

Your health comes from the inside. It always has, and it always will. Its human nature to want a quick fix and to try to make someone else responsible for your health, but in the end, youre the only one who can make yourself healthy or sick.

The science behind boosting your immune system isnt complicated. These are common sense habits that science and the medical community stand behind.

Empowering your health by building it up from the inside will do more to protect you and your family than hoarding toilet paper and face masks.

Ill share with you here what science has to say about strengthening your immune system:

*Moderate exercise strengthens your immune response while excessive exercise weakens it.

Regular, moderate exercise decreases the inflammatory response and increases immune regulation.

Exercise helps move and flush pathogens out of your airways, and it causes antibodies and white blood cells to circulate more rapidly and to the farthest reaches of your vascular system.

Exercise reduces the release of the stress hormone cortisol. Elevated cortisol inhibits your immune system.

The temporary increase of body temperature with exercise may weaken or kill certain bacteria or viruses (similar to your bodys fever response).

Tips:Take a 30 minute brisk walk or bicycle ride, play a sports game, work in your yard, do yoga or pilates.Get 30 minutes of moderate exercise every day. Bonus if you do it outdoors.If your workouts are extreme, scale back. Remind yourself moderate exercise builds up and restores the body while extreme exercise wears it down.

The quality of your food will determine the quality of your health, and the typical American diet is not helping you.

Nutrition is linked to your immune system directly by supplying the building blocks your body needs to function at peak performance, and indirectly by influencing your gut microbiome.

Your gut microbiome is responsible for communication between your brain and your immune system.

The gut microbiome also influences how much cortisol you produce. As mentioned above, too much cortisol weakens the immune response.

The health of your gut biome influences the health of your intestinal wall, and that wall is a physical first line of defense against disease.

The typical American diet is notoriously processed. Its full of calories, but short on nutrition. Micro deficiencies of zinc, selenium, iron, copper, folic acid, or vitamins A, B6 or E are all linked to a weakened immune system.

Tips:Drink an extra 2 glasses of water per day (on top of what you already drink).Eat one more fruit and one more vegetable per day.Stop eating fried food, foods with added sugars, and replace white grains with whole grains.Eliminate all sweetened drinks (naturally or artificially sweetened).Eat fewer restaurant and fast food meals and more homemade meals.Eat a handful of nuts instead of a handful of chips.

You can only know your vitamin D levels from a blood test, but its easy to get, and your doctor should comply if asked. Low vitamin D is more common than you think, and unless severe and chronic, it doesnt give many symptoms.

Low vitamin D results in poor regulation of your adaptive immune system. Thats the part of the immune system that has a memory, and thats the theory behind vaccines, and why you get immunity from chicken pox once youve had them.

Low vitamin D also increases autoimmune function, and that leads to a multitude of autoimmune diseases.

Tips:Spend 1015 minutes in direct sun every other day with major areas of skin exposed.Let your eyes be exposed occasionally to indirect sun by taking off your glasses.Eat more fish, eggs, and mushrooms.If necessary, take a vitamin D supplement after consulting with your health expert.

Chiropractic adjustments boost the immune system response by addressing and correcting neural dysfunction caused by misalignments of your spine.

Your bodys nervous system, endocrine system, and immune system are all linked, and chiropractic adjustments are supporting the nervous system.

Chiropractic adjustments help improve sympathetic-parasympathetic balance.

HIV positive patients that underwent 6 months of chiropractic adjustments had a 48% increase of CD-4 cells compared to the non-adjusted group. CD-4 cells help coordinate the immune response by stimulating other immune cells, such as macrophages.

Tips:Go see your chiropractor for an occasional tune up.If youve never been to the chiropractor, ask your friends for their recommendations.

Meditation is linked to decreased inflammation. Thats good because inflammation decreases immune function.

Meditation increases immune helper cells called CD-4 cells. CD-4 cells (mentioned above as well) act as a communicator to alert the system that pathogens are present.

Tips:Meditate for even 5 minutes a day. Theres more benefit to daily short meditation than occasional hour long meditation.Keep it simple. Sit quietly and comfortably and play some gentle background music or white noise.

Science says 78 hours per night is needed for optimal health.

Deficient sleep not only increases the chances of you getting sick, it also prolongs your recovery.

Your body produces and releases cytokines when you sleep. Cytokines are proteins that target inflammation.

Sleep also affects your immune system indirectly via your gut microbiome (and your gut microbiome affects your sleep). You can see more about that above and also at this post:

You Have 4 pounds of Bacteria in your Gut that Play a Crucial Role in your Sleep and Health Your gut determines the quality of your sleep.

Tips:Make sleep a priority. You deserve it.Follow the other tips in this post and youll sleep better.Check out this piece about getting better sleep:

Cant Sleep? Change How You Think About it

Drinking alcohol changes how your gut microbiome interacts with your immune system. The ultimate result is fewer macrophages (your 1st line defense cells that eat pathogens), T cells (antibodies), and B cells (white blood cells that secrete cytokines).

Alcohol disrupts your intestinal barrier.

Alcohol even reduces the function of your immune cells in your lungs, the tissue thats most affected by COVID-19.

Tips:I guess Im stating the obvious, but simply drink fewer alcoholic drinks of any sort. The more you drink, the more your immune system is adversely affected.

Cigarettesmoke suppresses the immune system leaving smokers to heal more slowly than non smokers.

Smoking has an adverse effect on the antioxidants (such as vitamin C) that circulate through your body.

Smoking of any sort is a direct irritant to respiratory tissues.

Tips:Reducing or stopping all smoking is ideal. At the least, choose forms of delivery that are less irritating to the lungs.

You were born to be healthy. Health is there for you when you stop covering it up with unhealthy life habits.

Boost your health. I promise youll feel more strong and energized and less anxious.

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Cross posted atChange Your Mind Change Your Life

All images open source from Pixabay.com

Originally posted here:
The Science Behind Improving Your Immune System During the COVID-19 Pandemic - Thrive Global

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ST. LOUIS - Specialists at SSM Health Saint Louis University Hospital have new hope for some cancer patients, through therapy using the bodys own immune system to fight the disease.

Its another addition to therapy options for cancer patients at SLU Hospital, home to the only outpatient bone marrow transplant program in the region, offering some patients the ability to go home each evening rather than face a lengthy hospital stay.

Dr. Mark Fesler is a SLUCare oncologist at SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital which is home to the only outpatient bone marrow transplant program in the region.

Called CAR T-cell therapy, a patients white blood cells the t lymphocyte aregenetically modifiedto attack and destroy cancer cells.

This is quite likely to change the landscape for treatment of blood cancers, says Mark Fesler, MD, director of the Center for Outpatient Blood and Marrow Transplantation at SLU Hospital and a SLUCare physician.

CAR T-cell therapy is FDA approved for some forms of aggressive, refractory non-Hodgkin lymphoma and for patients with relapsed or refractory acute lymphoblastic leukemia up to age 25.

In CAR t-cell therapy, T cells are taken from a patients blood, genetically modified and a special receptor called a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) are placed on the patients cancer cells. Large quantities of the CAR T-cells are grown in the laboratory and given to the patient through infusion.

While long-term data on success is still being collected, in clinical trialsmore than 80 percent of CAR -T cell therapy patients experienced either a complete (no signs of cancer) or partial (some reduction in the extent of the cancer) response.

This therapy has been in development since the late 1980s and various refinements have come about to improve the efficacy of this treatment, says Dr. Fesler. We are excited to offer this to our patients.

CAR T-cell therapy isnot the right treatment for every patient. Your doctor will consider the type of cancer, past treatments and your overall health before recommending CAR T-cell therapy.

CAR T-cell therapy is only approved to treat two groups of people with certain types of cancer:

Children and young adults up to age 25 with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that hasnt improved with or has returned after treatment

Adults with aggressive large B-cell lymphoma that hasnt improved with or has returned after treatment.

To learn more about CAR T-cell therapy, click herehttps://www.ssmhealth.com/conditions-treatments/cancer-care-support/treatment-procedures/car-t-cell-treatment

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SSM Health SLU Hospital offers CAR T-Cell therapy, using the bodys immune system to fight cancer - fox2now.com

With the number of cases of coronavirus and flu on the rise and fatalities increasing globally, it is time to give our immune systems an opportunity to fight better.

No amount of lifestyle intervention will make you invincible, the Independent quoted Dr. Jenna Macciochi, an immunologist at the University of Sussex. But there are plenty of small things you can do to strengthen your immune system.

Heres a list of evidence-based tips that you can follow to improve your immunity:

1. Follow the Mediterranean Diet

Consuming a low-carb Mediterranean diet rich in colorful vegetables and fruits can give you a lot of antioxidants and anti-inflammatory phytonutrients your body requires to ward off infection. The more colorful the vegetables and fruits, the better nutrients you will be getting. Have them whole alongside their skin as it contains the essential fiber that feeds the healthy bugs in your gut that plays a vital role in fighting an infection,The Independent mentioned.

2. Get Enough Sleep

This is a very simple yet important tip that can help boost your immunity levels. When your body doesnt get eight hours of sleep every night, your immune system cannot work the way it should, WTKR shared.

3. Pay Attention to Your Skin Microbiome

High doses of ultraviolet rays can affect the skin microbiome in a negative way and weaken its protective functions. It can also trigger immune suppression in the skin. Also, ensure not to use strong soaps and antibacterial products since over washing might not be good to the skin microbiome. Perfumes and moisturizers might also have an impact. So,make sure you use the right ones, The Guardian advised.

4. Stay Physically Fit

This can not only boost your immunity but also your overall health. Exercise can help mobilize the sedentary white blood cells and enable them to do their surveillance jobs in other parts of the body, according to Prof Arne Akbar, the president of the British Society for Immunology and a professor at University College, London told The Guardian. Older adults are asked to indulge in any kind of exercise that is possible.

5. Get your vitamins

Although Vitamin C cannot help prevent you from getting Coronavirus, it can certainly help during a cold and can decrease the duration. Also,you need to get at least 15 minutes of sunlight a day. Getting the adequate amount of the sunshine vitamin can help your immune system to function properly, Dr. Ryan Light with Greenbrier Family Medicine told WTKR.

When it comes to fruit and vegetable intake, moderation is key. Photo: Reuters

Original post:
5 Effective Ways To Boost Your Immune System To Ward Off Viruses - International Business Times

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Money cannot by immunity, but it can help stave it off. Here's how some are spending to both avoid and protect themselves against coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Lanserhof, a private medical facility at London's Arts Club, a private members club, has seen an 18% jump in the number of inquiries for its Immune Plus Support Infusion. The 300 ($387) session provides an IV infusion which contains a high dose of Vitamin C, as well as "immune-boosting amino acids and also Zinc which plays a crucial role in our immune system functioning well."

Just up the road in London's West End, Club 51, a private gym-come-health club, has issued advice to its clients about how best to protect themselves against viruses. "We produced a report for all of our clients on ten things you can do that can help protect your body against viruses in general," says Jon Denoris, Club 51's founder.

Programs like these are focused on boosting the body's immune system and are not specifically tailored against COVID-19. Club 51's programs are months-long and tailor-made to each client, combining diet, sleep, exercise with supplements like nootropics.

However, Lanserhof says a healthy immune system is the best weapon to fight off any kind of virus, "be that flu, COVID-19 or simply a cold.

"Weaker immune systems are more likely to develop secondary infections such as pneumonia, and thus supporting a strong and healthy immune system through good nutrition, plenty of sleep and exercise as well as IV infusions is key."

Immunity is one thing, but avoidance of the virus is better. Here, again, those with the means are taking extra precautions.

Private jet companies have reported a surge in business since the virus outbreak. Checking-in at private jet terminals and avoiding the circulated air of commercial airliners is a safer option if you really have to travel, as many business executives say they do.

All schools have temporarily closed in Madrid, Spain, to prevent the spread of coronavirus.

Avoidance can also be bought for children. Tutors International, which provides elite private tuition services, says it has seen a "massive upswing in requests" since the coronavirus virus outbreak.

"We are putting extra resources into recruiting elite educators able to provide interim private tutoring," says its CEO, Adam Caller. Many of his clients are unable to return home, and others are affected by school closures and changes to examination schedules.

A Chanel mask worn during Paris Fashion Week.

While many take to panic-buying items like toilet-paper, the wealthy have shunned shopping altogether: Luxury retail is expected to take a $33 to $44 billion hit this year as the wealthy stay away from shops. (Many will outsource the buying of essentials like toilet-paper.)

This is most acute in China, which accounts for 40% of the global luxury industry, and Italy, both a manufacturer and luxury-buying tourist hot-spot. The U.K. luxury industry has also suffered for the same reasons, says Walpole, a sector body for British luxury.

Many fear contagion in the retail space. Others see little point in buying things like fashion or jewellery if there is no opportunity to show them off. "I'm just not sure when my next ball will be," says one female financier in London.

The exception to the luxury rule is, bizarrely, fashionable face-masks. The 54 ($69) Airinum Urban Air Mask 2.0 has sold out worldwide. Shoppers are now signing up to a waiting list for these multi-layer masks that claim protection against "airborne particles as small as 0.3m."

Airinum expects to be restocked in July. In the meantime that immune system needs tending to.

Excerpt from:
How The Rich Are Protecting Themselves Against Coronavirus - Forbes

Older adults appear to be more severely at risk from the new coronavirus, while young children seem to be largely spared and understanding why could be crucial to treating people with the illness it causes, according to scientists.

Much remains unknown about COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus that is rapidly spreading around the world, but researchers have seized on a factor that seems to influence the severity of infections: the patient's age.

People over age 60, and particularly those with pre-existing health conditions, appear to be most vulnerable to the virus, which has spread to more than 110,000 people in at least 97 countries.

While that is not particularly surprising, the statistics show that young children have made up very few of the confirmed cases so far, a divergence that isn't true for every illness.

Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

While the immune systems of older people are typically not as robust as those of younger people, leaving them more vulnerable to a wide variety of illnesses, scientists say they can't definitively say why the coronavirus has been harder on people of advanced ages.

"We're trying to figure out why age is a primary feature of this infection, but from a biological perspective, we don't have that answer," said Dr. Srinivas Murthy, a clinical associate professor in the department of pediatrics at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver.

Understanding that question could help researchers figure out how to treat the illness, particularly in the older populations that appear to be more susceptible to it.

Surgeon General Jerome Adams, speaking Monday afternoon at a news conference, confirmed that the virus had been more severe for older people based on the data currently available.

The first death in the U.S. from COVID-19 was that of a Washington state man in his 50s with underlying health conditions. Since then, the state's health officials have also been battling the spread of the respiratory illness at a nursing facility in Kirkland, where 19 people have died.

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In China, where the coronavirus first emerged, early research also suggests that the coronavirus may pose a graver risk to some populations over others. In a report released last month by the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, an analysis of 1,023 deaths out of 44,672 confirmed cases diagnosed through Feb. 11 found that 21.9 percent of deaths occurred among patients who were over 80 years old.

Download the NBC News app for full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak

Most people who have been infected have experienced mild to moderate symptoms, which Murthy said likely means either that the virus is not penetrating beyond the upper respiratory tract or that patients' immune systems are preventing it from reaching deep into the lungs.

It's thought that the virus spreads through close contact, traveling through tiny droplets and secretions when a patient coughs, sneezes or breathes.

Typically, when a virus infects a cell in the human body, the cell's so-called innate immune system kicks in if foreign genetic material is detected. This is considered the body's first line of defense against invading pathogens. The second line of defense is known as the adaptive immune system, which first has to detect foreign invaders before producing antibodies and T cells to counteract the infection.

But as people age, both of those systems can break down.

"We don't truly know why, but as you get older, the functionality of the innate immune system and adaptive immune system wanes," said Timothy Sheahan, an epidemiologist at the Gillings School of Global Public Health at the University of North Carolina.

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Coronavirus is hard on older people and scientists aren't sure why - NBCNews.com

Researchers in Germany and San Francisco believe they have identified an antibody that binds to the brains immune cells and causes them to live longer, divide more quickly and better detect unwelcome substances such as the plaques believed to contribute to Alzheimers.

In a report published in the journal EMBO Molecular Medicine, scientists from the German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet in Munich and Denali Therapeutics in San Francisco said that mice studies showed the antibody can cause the brains immune system to attack amyloid plaque more quickly.

Scientists believe that amyloid plaque buildup is one of the key causes of Alzheimers disease.

We may have found a way to specifically remove particularly harmful forms of amyloid, lead researcher Christian Haass said in a news release.

The researchers studied TREM2, a receptor on cell surfaces to which other molecules can attach. They believe that TREM2 can vary greatly from individual to individual and can increase the risk of developing Alzheimers by putting the brains cellsknown as microgliainto a dormant state, which prevents them from recognizing, absorbing and breaking down plaques and dead cells.

Conversely we suspect that activation of the microglia could help to eliminate plaques and thus combat Alzheimers, Haass said.

TREM2 seems to play an important role, he continued. The receptor apparently helps to switch the microglia from dormant to active mode.

However, Haass cautioned that further studies are required before they can test this approach in clinical trials.

We have shown that our approach can work in principle, Haass said. However, there is still a long way to go before it can be tested in humans and additional data is necessary to validate this approach.

The brains immune cells are increasingly being studied by researchers looking to fight Alzheimers and other dementias. In 2017, Being Patient spoke with Dr. Roxana Carare, a professor of clinical neuroanatomy and experimental neuropathology at the University of Southampton, about how the body clears protein plaques from the brain.

Another recent study found that resetting immune cells could help treat traumatic brain injury by delaying or preventing inflammation.

Read this article:
Harnessing the Brain's Immune Cells to Remove Amyloid Plaques in Alzheimer's - Being Patient

As part of National Nutrition Month, Wednesday is celebrated as Registered Dietitian Nutritionist Day by the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

Registered Dietitian Nutritionists (RDNs) are the most valuable and credible source of scientific-based food and nutrition information. The academy is the worlds largest organization of food and nutrition professionals, with more than 100,000 credentialed practitioners.

As the nations food and nutrition experts, RDNs are committed to improving the health of individuals, organizations and communities. They translate the science of nutrition into daily approaches for healthy eating.

RDNs have degrees in nutrition, dietetics, public health or a related field from accredited colleges and universities. In addition, the individual must complete a dietetic internship that is approved by the academy and pass a national examination.

Once they have obtained national credentials, they are required to stay up to date with the ever changing science of nutrition with continuing education. Many states have licensure for nutritionists. State licensure and national registration help to protect the public from misinformation and unsound nutrition advice offered by nonlicensed professionals.

An advantage of being an RDN is that you can move through different workplace settings throughout your career. In my 30-year career, I have worked in clinical, public health, senior living, higher education, private practice, media and research. I

n my current position as extension educator, I am able to incorporate several different experiences from teaching, providing food demonstrations, advising dietetic interns, working with media, working with schools, and participating in research projects. There are a variety of workplace settings for RDNs including hospitals, medical centers, schools, supermarkets, private businesses, fitness centers, food industry, universities and private practice.

The majority of registered dietitian nutritionists work in the treatment and prevention of disease. It varies from providing medical nutrition therapy as a member of the health care team in the medical setting to teaching, monitoring and advising the public on promoting healthy lifestyles in community and public health settings. You may also find them in schools providing education for teachers and students, creating and revising wellness policies and helping to create healthy menus.

Some RDNs also have degrees in exercise science or culinary arts, which complements their dietetic expertise. Organizations recognize the value of employing RDNs, such as professional sports teams employing a sports nutritionist and supermarkets employing dietitians to provide in-store nutrition counseling, lead store tours and answer customers dietary questions.

Integrative and functional medicine is an expanded approach to health, centering on a holistic approach to wellness. Many RDNs work with this integrative medicine model focusing on whole foods, recognizing the connection between the mind and body, and providing a personalized approach to nutrition, health and healing.

Regardless of the workplace, RDNs use their expertise to help individuals make positive lifestyle changes to improve their quality of life. If you are looking for a dietitian for personalized nutrition information, go to http://www.eatright.org/find-an-expert.

Lisa McCoy is a family and consumer-sciences educator with University of Maryland Extension in Washington County.

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What is a registered dietitian? - Herald-Mail Media

I got a good crew, but today I just feel off, Justin Bieber says as he films a music video in Episode 9 of his YouTube docuseries, Seasons.

He drops to the ground, rubbing his hands through his hair. He circles his cheeks and forehead with his palms, like hes washing his face without any water. Hes physically struggling to get out of his own head.

Its a feeling Im very familiar with. The Biebs and I both struggle with mental-health issues. His difficulties are on full display in Seasons, which follows the 25-year-old megastar through the making of his new album Changes and shows his often-rough road to recovery from drug addiction.

A key player in Biebers mental reset is Buzz Mingin, a local health coach and behavioral specialist with a celebrity following. He helps clients struggling with mental illness, brain injury and concentration issues, and remembers Bieber being in bad shape when they first met.

He really wasnt functioning, says Mingin, 51, in the docuseries. His cortisol levels the bodys so-called stress hormone were through the roof.

Mingin, who has a Ph.D. in psychology but is not a medical doctor, works with the Amen Clinics, a national chain that specializes in brain-focused integrative medicine. Full workups by Amen Clinics which can include talk therapy, oxygen chamber sessions and brain tests called SPECT imaging scans cost about $4,000 and are not covered by insurance.

Its practices have come under fire in the past: In 2012, the Washington Post expressed skepticism about the reliability of the SPECT imaging, Amens high cost of care and its expensive supplements. A representative from the clinic rebukes these claims in a statement to The Post: SPECT imaging, they say, is based on reliable science, supplements can be better than toxic psychiatric medications and getting healthy isnt expensive when you compare it to the cost of being sick.

At any rate, Mingins techniques seemed to be working for Bieber. So I went to see if he could help me calm down too.

In the Amen Clinics Midtown office, Mingin explains the method to his madness. In a thick Jersey accent, he tells me that he functions as a combination therapist, neurologist and wellness guru.

The first order of business is getting his patients on a strict schedule. We want [to create] a predictable environment to avoid extraneous stress, he tells The Post. That means sleeping, eating and exercising at the same time every day.

When stressors do crop up, he recommends havening, a relatively new psychosensory technique that has panicky patients stroke their arms, face or hands (patients choice) with their fingers until they feel calm. According to Mingin, fingertip stroking increases the production of feel-good chemicals in the brain, including serotonin and dopamine, to combat stress.

Thats what Bieber is doing during his music video freakout, when he runs his hands all over his head and face. When hes done, he gets back up and back to work.

Sitting across from Mingin, I tell him Im ready to try it.

First, Mingin asks me to focus on a stressor in my life. Thats easy: coronavirus. Its spreading fast. All I can think of is a totally apocalyptic, worst-case scenario.

We come up with a mantra: Im not elderly. I dont have an underlying health problem. I wash my hands. Im going to stay alive.

Mingin instructs me to use my fingertips and palms to slowly stroke my face, upper arms or hands while breathing slowly and counting the breaths: For 30 seconds, close the eyes, inhale through the nose for three seconds and exhale for five seconds.

You want it to feel kind and soft, he says. Were calibrating your thinking and the [brain] chemicals to work together.

I close my eyes and focus on the texture of my finger pads, trying to match my breath to the motion, like a low-exertion yoga class.

While I haven, Mingin chants our mantra. I focus on taking long breaths. After 30 seconds, I open my eyes.

Stefano Giovannini

Stefano Giovannini

Stefano Giovannini

Stefano Giovannini

Stefano Giovannini

Im still scared of coronavirus. But my breathing is slower. My shoulders are lower. Im a little calmer.

With a daily stressor tackled, we turn to something heavier. Mingin asks me to think of a time I felt inescapable fear. My mind turns to a serious health scare that sent me to the ER.

Eyes closed, I bring myself back to that night where I was, how it felt, who I saw. Mingin had me take three quick, forceful inhales, like lifting weights, to bump up my heart rate and stress level. It works: Im in freakout mode.

Then, havening. As I stroke my palms and take deep breaths, Mingin prompts me to think of something joyful. My heart rate slows. I feel Zen. He tells me to open my eyes and, without moving my head, look to the right and then left 10 times. Doing so, Mingin says, helps to retrain my brain to associate terrible memories with a good feeling instead of a bad one.

Havening absolutely made me feel more chill. It forced me to check out and think happy thoughts and just be in the moment.

Am I ready to ditch my antidepressants? No. But if you see me or Justin rubbing our hands and taking a deep breath, know that we just need a minute to relax.

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Justin Bieber's wellness guru tried to cure my anxiety - New York Post

Uday Jani, MD will present an immune-boosting, spirit-lifting approach to dealing with coronavirus at free community presentations 4 to 5:30 p.m., Wednesday, March 11, at Lewes Public Library, and 5:30 to 7 p.m., Friday, March 13, at Milton Library.

Bombarded by alarming statistics and dire warnings on a daily basis, its challenging for people to know what to believe about the coronavirus. Get the facts at Janis presentations this week at Lewes and Milton libraries, where hell address the issues candidly, factually and most important, hopefully.

Theres a great deal of misinformation surrounding this right now, and when people have sniffles, they fear the worst, he says. But the fact is that if you have not traveled to an affected area or been in close contact with someone who has, theres very little chance youll get the coronavirus.

Additionally, there are a number of proactive steps people can take to lessen their personal risk of becoming ill, according to Jani, a leading local internist and integrative medicine specialist.

Boosting your immune system helps you resist not just the coronavirus, but the flu and other respiratory infections prevalent at this time of year, he says. Basic measures, including eating healthy, sleeping well, managing stress, and using certain herbs and supplements, are enormously beneficial to maintaining overall health.

Denise Demback, local practitioner and Diplomate of Oriental Medicine, will join Jani to present an update on Chinese herbs and supplements being used to effectively enhance the immune system and help fight COVID-19. These include astragalus, elderberry, vitamin D3, mushrooms and garlic.

Natural ways to build up your immunity provide an alternative approach to prevention, says Jani. There is no vaccine yet available for COVID-19, so the best way to prevent illness is to try and stay healthy, as well as take everyday practical actions to stop the spread of germs.

CDCs recommendations include:

Get a flu shot if you havent already done so. Wash hands with soap and water. If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60 percent alcohol. Avoid touching eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. Avoid close contact with people who are sick. Stay away from work, school or other people if you become sick with respiratory symptoms like fever and cough. Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash. Clean and disinfect frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

Jani will also cover the most frequently asked questions and concerns hes hearing from patient and members of the community - travel safety, what to do if experiencing symptoms of COVID-19, how to assess personal risk, where to find accurate updates on community spread, and why a positive mental attitude is essential to prevention.

If youre continually worried and stressed about catching the virus, that in itself can negatively impact your immune system, he explains. But if you do everything you can to stay healthy, trust that your body will have the power to help fight the virus. Right now, that may be the best prescription anyone can write.

Dr. Uday Jani is in private practice at Shore View Personal Care in Milton, where he blends the best of traditional, integrative and functional medicine. A board-certified Internist, Dr. Jani believes in treating the whole person - not just the disease - utilizing an evidence-based integrative approach. He completed an Integrative Medicine fellowship at the University of Arizona and training at the Institute for Functional Medicine. For more information, call 302-684-0990 or go to http://www.udayjanimd.com.

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Keep calm and healthy during coronavirus outbreak - CapeGazette.com

Three Michigan Medicine-led projects have advanced to the second round of STAT News annual STAT Madness competition a bracket-style tournament to find the best innovations in science and medicine

In this #Breakthru32 round, the U-M teams are up against Stony Brook University, the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Notre Dame University.

Our teams are asking for your support to advance to the Sweet 16 round and ultimately to the finals.

Below are descriptions of the U-M projects and links to vote for them directly.

Pancreatic cancer treatment resistance:A team led by Costas Lyssiotis, Ph.D. in the Rogel Cancer Center and Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology, made the bracket for a study that shows why pancreatic cancer cells stubbornly resist treatment with a common chemotherapy drug. It could pave the way to better treatment options.

Vote: michmed.org/PanCan32

Liquid biopsy technology:A joint Engineering/Rogel Cancer Center team led by Eusik Yoon, Ph.D. with former Rogel director Max Wicha, M.D., is in the competition for their work to develop a way to separate cancer cells out of blood samples taken from patients, so they can be tested for genetic signatures that could guide treatment.Vote for this entry here.Read more about the work, published in Nature Communications, here.

Vote: michmed.org/LiquidBiopsy32

Effects of intense stress on DNA:A team led by Srijan Sen, M.D., Ph.D., of the Depression Center, Department of Psychiatry and Michigan Neuroscience Institute, showed that new doctors DNA ages six times faster than normal during their first year of residency, thanks to the intense stress of their training. The research, published in Biological Psychiatry, has implications for understanding vulnerability to depression;vote for this entry hereandread more about it here.

Vote: michmed.org/DNAStress32

You can also view the entire bracket of the 32 remaining teams from across the country, each selected for a piece of important research they published in 2019. Anyone can vote for a winner in each matchup in the bracket, multiple times a day. Voting to enter the Sweet 16 round ends Saturday at 11:59 p.m.

The field of competitors will narrow week by week until the final two teams are standing right at the end of basketballs March Madness in early April.

A Michigan Medicine team studying tinnitus took home the top prize last year. Help us bring the title back to Michigan for a second year in a row.

Another Michigan Medicine team also made it to the Round of 8 in STAT Madness 2018 with an entry focused onantibiotic-resistant microbes in nursing homes. In the first year of the tournament, U-M researchers who study themicrobes that inhabit human lungsmade it to the final round.

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UM science teams need public's help to advance to the Sweet 16 round of the STAT Madness tournament - University of Michigan Health System News

AUSTIN, Texas Texans who are college-educated, live in suburban or urban areas, have higher median incomes and are ethnically white are less likely to vaccinate their children, according to analysis by researchers at The University of Texas at Austin. The findings could help public health officials identify pockets of low vaccination rates where communities within the state are at higher risk for an outbreak of vaccine-preventable diseases such as measles.

In a paper published today in the journal PLoS Medicine, professor of integrative biology Lauren Ancel Meyers, a computational epidemiologist, and her team at UT Austin compared publicly available census data with the number of conscientious vaccination exemptions from public, private and charter school systems across Texas. The state is one of 15 to allow families who cite a philosophical objection to vaccines to opt out of immunizations for their children that are otherwise required for enrolling in school. A total of 45 states and Washington, D.C., allow religious objections to immunizations.

The study not only provides a window into local vaccination patterns throughout Texas, but also allows us to make predictions, Meyers said. If you dont have data on the vaccination rate for a given community, you can use demographic factors to predict outbreak risks for vaccine-preventable diseases.

Researchers consider vaccination exemption rates of 3% or higher in a school or school district to be the threshold for high risk of an outbreak of vaccine-preventable illness. A growing number of schools exceed that threshold in Texas. Between the 2012-2013 school year and the 2017-2018 school year, the percentage of school districts reporting high-risk levels of exemptions doubled in public school districts across the state, rising from 3% to 6%. High-risk private schools increased from 20% to 26%, and charter schools increased from 17% to 22%.

The study examined the top 10 metropolitan areas in Texas, including rural, suburban and urban communities within each area. Suburban and higher-income urban communities were more likely to have high vaccination exemption rates than rural counties, the study found. Austin, Dallas-Fort Worth and Houston were the cities with the highest risk of vaccine opt-outs. Areas with higher percentages of young children, ethnically white people and people with a bachelors degree were more likely to have higher vaccination exemption rates.

On the flip side, researchers found that counties with lower median income and a higher percentage of people who spoke a non-English language at home were more likely to have a lower vaccine opt-out rate.

We wanted to identify potential pockets of hidden risk throughout Texas stemming from declining childhood vaccination rates, Meyers said.

To do this, Meyers and colleagues took a more detailed look at the data. Prior studies looked at average exemption rates within counties and concluded that most Texas counties did not cross the 3% exemption rate. By instead tracking the number of individual schools and districts above this threshold, the team identified unseen pockets of risk. Travis County, for instance, has a 2.3% conscientious exemption rate across all grade levels, according to the Department of State Health Services. But using her more fine-tuned model, Meyers was able to predict pockets within Travis County where the vaccination exemption rate in schools with grades K-8 was higher than 3%.

This study allows us to detect potential hot spots at a finer geographic scale, she said. The increasing numbers of exemptions are already alarming. In addition, the clustering of unvaccinated children in tight communities only amplifies the risk of an outbreak.

Similar studies have been performed in other states, such as California. Meyers study was the first to look at Texas, which is considered a high-risk state for an outbreak of vaccine-preventable illness, at such a granular level. Meyers and her team estimate that 5% of public schools in metropolitan areas of Texas, 28% of private schools and 22% of charter schools are at risk for an outbreak.

The study did not offer any clues about why some demographic groups are opting out of vaccinating their children at such a high rate.

Undergraduate Maike Morrison, a member of the Deans Scholars Honors program at The University of Texas at Austin, and Lauren A. Castro of Los Alamos National Laboratory co-authored the paper. Meyers holds the Denton A. Cooley Centennial Professorship in Zoology at The University of Texas at Austin.

The researchers were supported by the National Defense Science & Engineering Graduate Fellowship (NDSEG) Program and the National Institutes of Health Models of Infectious Disease Agent Study Grant.

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Demographics Linked to Choice Not to Vaccinate Children in Texas, Study Finds - UT News | The University of Texas at Austin